Reactions to Readings for Fourth Week

Disorganized Ruminations on Collaboration

I wonder if the concept of plagiarism should be revised itself, given the fact that so much of writing is in fact collaborative. From a practical standpoint, not fighting plagiarism can cause a freeloader problem where students do not pull their own weight and do not develop some of the more solo writing skills.

Hmm… are there any writing skills that are exclusively solo? I have a hard time brainstorming in groups and I come up with fewer ideas, though I remember a lot of students who came to the Writing Center (where I tutored) were able to generate a lot more ideas when the tutor asked them questions that encouraged further analysis. I’ve been told that writing is a solo activity and in some cases it really is, since two students cannot simultaneously write a particular text. But that seems to be the case with many other things as well. Yesterday I built a bookshelf with Joelle (I asked her if I could include this) and the whole process was collaborative overall. There were times when one of us would be hammering in a nail while the other was reading instructions. But there were some aspects of the project that were fully solo. For instance, there was no way that we could both hammer in the same nail at the same time. Writing seems to function the same way, with the overall process of writing being collaborative, while the actual acts of writing are not collaborative. Or are they? When forming an idea that incorporates information that you received from a group member, are you then collaborating?

Group Leadership

I wonder how leaders are formed in group projects. From my personal experience, there have been some group members who take charge of the project and try to get everything organized. Sometimes, the entire group is full of leaders and there has to be a great deal of negotiation over who does what, since no one really has a specific right over any other group member to decide what the group does. If the group is full of members who have different ideas on how the project should go, compromising, synthesis and weighing the pros and cons of each idea can help students decide how the project will be carried out. I always try to see if there is a way that each member of the group has roughly an equal percentage of ideas so that no one feels that they were ignored or that another group member dominated. Of course, this is only possible with group members who want to contribute. Group members who don’t take the initiative when contributing can be guided into the project by asking them what they think about different ideas, but not all group members provide feedback, maybe because they are afraid that their ideas will be scoffed at or will actually harm the project.

Purpose of Wikis

Wikis seem to be the most effective collaborative tools for very large projects that take a long period of time. In our group, I was thinking of setting up a wiki space on one of the free wiki servers, but I felt that our script would be so short that a wiki wouldn’t be necessary. But the larger the project and the more collaborative the project, the more useful I can see a wiki being. But there’s this anxiety over whether or not someone will ruin the wiki by providing irrelevant information or badly editing the wiki. I think wikis record changes made to the wiki so that bad edits can be changed back to their original entries, but the anxiety is still there.

The section in chapter 4 entitled “Using Wikis to Improve Reading Ability and Literary Interpretation” pointed out how students are less intimidated when they are editing the text of others. I can definitely see the editing of the entries of others to be effective in teaching students editing skills. Students usually seem to fear editing their own writing, so editing the writing of others might help them develop editing skills that they can eventually apply to their own writing process.

I like the idea of wiki course books since the multiple authors are more capable of challenging each other’s biases and providing a better-rounded picture of a particular subject. It is necessary that students carefully cite where they have received their information or how they came to the conclusions that they’ve arrived at.

Classroom 2.0 Limitations

In light of the last class we had, the ideas that Catherine McLoughlin discusses seem far removed from the realities of classrooms where administrators are aggressively seeking to prevent the full utilization of the Internet in the classroom. The only way that I can see educators actually preparing students for a wired world is to provide more protections to teachers so that they do not have to fear legal repercussions for classroom Internet usage.

Reactions to Readings for Third Week

Sources

I like the idea on page 26 that students are able to access websites like BrainyQuote to integrate into their own projects. Sites like BrainyQuote, which are not sources with information that is always verifiable, can still add value to the student’s work. Unreliable sources are not always a bad thing as long as they are not the core of any arguments that the student is making. Also, merely linking to the source allows readers to decide whether or not they want to trust a given source or how probable it is that the source is correct.

Search engines like Google are definitely the worst ways to find scholarly information and the best ways to find almost anything else, especially since the majority of scholarly articles won’t even come up on Google. However, I have found Google to be great for finding bibliographies which can be the beginning of my research. Also, typing “site:.edu” into the search engine along with the keyword terms will bring up hits from website content released by universities, which are likely to be more relevant. However, some content found on universities might be postings of college students which might not be as accurate, since university websites sometimes provide web space for students.

Non-Linear Thinking

I’ve found tools such as Inspiration and the old-fashioned notepad to be very useful for exploring ideas, given that many ideas do not always occur in a linear way, which text tends to promote. I wonder if the way in which we read is influenced by the linear style of text that we read and if our thinking would change if tagging, hyperlinks and other non-linear tools became more prevalent in our everyday lives, similar to how multitasking has changed the wiring in our brains.

Gaming Environments

On page 48, Beach et al wrote that gaming environments could be spaces for online, digital discussion of classroom material. While I agree that a discussion could be held in a gaming environment, the gaming environment might be really distracting, unless the content of the game relates to the classroom discussion. However, my hesitation towards the use of gaming might come from my lack of comfort in communicating within a game. I feel more comfortable with asynchronistic communication like email and forums, since more time can be devoted to ideas. I became more convinced of the potential value of gaming as I read more of the ideas put forth by Beach et al. I liked the idea of the students reporting on the train wreck found in the instructor-created Neverwinter Nights world. Online games could be used to simulate environments that would be too difficult to create in a classroom through any other means.

One concern I often have is that some forms of learning such as learning within an online game world would be more time consuming than using textbooks and a projector, since more instructional content can be delivered through text. But are all students retaining the content from more traditional pedagogy techniques or do we need to incorporate video games in the classroom to get students to understand information and think critically.

Pedagogy Drives Technology

I agree that pedagogy should drive technology. Ideally, technology should continue to be developed so that the boundaries of education can be expanded in ways that many students, parents and educators cannot visualize yet. Educational needs could drive technology as long as the goals of are clearly defined.

Student Growth

I agree that informal online discussions outside the classroom can definitely improve writing over time. Sure, many students do not write texts that are considered standard English, but they do have to write clearly to be able to communicate effectively with online acquaintances and they sometimes have to employ argumentative skills. Online conversations can be a training ground for effective written communication as students discover the hard way the effects of poor communication.

On page 53, Beach et al pointed out that teachers can use digital learning to involve students in their own learning. I always wondered why students are not involved in their own learning and why educators often have to try to find ways to drive learning, especially given how willing children seem to learn in early stages of life.

Reactions to Readings for Second Week

Multiple Forms of Rhetoric

In last week’s class, Mabrito brought to light the study of rhetoric’s shift in focus from speech to writing. This point suggested that the study of rhetoric was able to successfully expand from spoken rhetoric alone to spoken rhetoric and written rhetoric. Now that other forms of rhetoric are available, such as digital rhetoric, image rhetoric and video rhetoric, the argument is made that these new forms of rhetoric should also be included. I agree with all of this, but my confusion lies in the fact that the study of spoken rhetoric has migrated to the discipline of Communication, while written rhetoric is covered in Rhetoric and Composition disciplines. While spoken rhetoric is used in Rhetoric and Composition courses, these courses have primarily focused on written rhetoric. Therefore, shouldn’t digital rhetoric have its own separate discipline? Should there be a department of Digital Rhetoric and a major in Digital Rhetoric? Or should there be a discipline that fully encompasses all forms of rhetoric? Chapter 2 of Multimodal Composition mentioned that many of the processes used in writing—such as planning, brainstorming and thinking about audience—are similar across written, spoken and digital rhetoric. I tried to Google “Digital Rhetoric” as a department and found a doctoral program at North Carolina State University in Communication, Rhetoric and Digital Media. 

Core Technology Skills

On page 17 of Multimodal Composition, Selfe mentioned that students had to be prepared by professors to create multimodal texts, since they have not been prepared in the same way that they have been prepared to write traditional text. Since technology advances at a quick pace and the tools used to communicate and disseminate ideas are continually changing, students and professors have to continually race to keep up with ongoing changes. Fortunately, those designing new technologies try to make these technologies increasingly more accessible, so the learning curve keeps getting smaller. Still, in order to shorten the amount of time we have to spend providing “affordances” so that we can get down to the business of creating multimodal texts, are there any core skills that students can be taught that allow them to quickly learn new technologies? I have no idea, since I tend to plunge into new technology I don’t understand and I only consult instruction manuals when I get stuck. There are some basic skills that students should become proficient with, such as being able to sign into the Internet and use a search engine. Choosing highly appropriate search engine key words can help students find incredible amounts of instructional information that can aid students in acclimating to new technologies. For instance, students unfamiliar to using Twitter can type into Google “how to use twitter” or “twitter guide.”

I agree with the assertion on page 30 that instructors should not expect students to perfectly compose digital texts, since seamless video editing and ideal graphic choices are more the realm of Computer Graphics Technology (CGT) courses. Maybe a Composition and CGT course could be team-taught if it hasn’t been already. Multimodal courses should be more about the rhetoric. Students can master video editing over time--if they become interested in creating Youtube videos for example--but composition classes have the opportunity to give students skills that will allow them to create videos that are not only high-quality but also have deep meaning and powerful rhetoric behind them.

Divorce of Entertainment and Knowledge

On page 31, Mickey Hess stated that “Western society associates the modalities of video and audio primarily with efforts to entertain an audience rather than with efforts to inform. In contrast, we associate the modality of alphabetic writing primarily with the purpose of informing readers.” Hess pointed out that creators of multimodal composition must take these considerations into mind. Well, videos are mostly watched on television and in the movie theater as a form of entertainment so this bias is understandable. Other digital mediums are similar.

I wish that there wasn’t such an effort to separate education from entertainment. Students are used to being highly stimulated by sophisticated multimedia. Abandoning all efforts to entertain students in the classroom will likely lead to boredom as a result. But while some teachers make no effort entertain, the entertainment industry rarely makes much of an effort to inform. Even educational programs found on the Discovery channel keep learning to a minimum by narrating authoritative statements very slowly while placing greater emphasis on visuals. Rarely is reflection or analysis encouraged, possibly because these programs fear that viewers will be too distracted by their own thoughts to pay attention to the commercials.

Internet Trolls

Hess mentioned on page 34 that multimodal composition has the potential to encourage students to react to multiple audiences instead of simply responding to writing prompts in an “artificial, inauthentic, or forced” manner. However, I am concerned over how some students might react to negative criticism from the web. Unfortunately, there are a high number of verbally aggressive individuals (colloquially called “web trolls”) who might post very rude or inflammatory comments that can discourage some students from creative expression. I wonder if there are any ways that students can be prepared for such comments so that they are able to take them into context and understand that many Internet comments are not personal.

Technology Narrative

We’re always immersed in technology, since every tool we’ve used in daily life, from a spoon to a search engine, is a form of technology. However, when technology comes to mind, I usually think of cell phones and satellites and that computer that mechanics say is inside my car. Not the car itself but the computer inside it. Strange.

My first memorable experience with technology was with video games. For one of my first birthdays, I received the Nintendo. I remember thinking that the monsters in the video game could actually jump out of the screen and that I’d have to stomp my feet on them.

As I got older, books and video games competed for my attention. I remember my mom getting mad all the time that I spent playing video games and tried to get me out playing and reading. Video games started to become really repetitive and I always felt this desire to create for some reason, so reading and writing fiction took up more and more of my time and I mostly abandoned technology.

Eventually my family bought a computer that was fast enough that I felt motivated to log on to it. It was a novelty at first. I played around with the programs a little to see how they worked. I learned to type well enough that started writing stories in Microsoft Word. But I remember how hard it was to be creative on a computer as opposed to using a notebook. So I ended up transcribing what I wrote from a notebook to a computer.

The Internet seemed boring. At first, the dialup took too long until we hooked up DSL and the Google search engine and other search engines weren’t as accurate as they are now. I was into Karate at the time and wasn’t able to find the information I wanted to learn about Karate, so I didn’t pay attention to the Internet until late high school.

Like a lot of people, I got sucked into the Internet by peer pressure. Friends would say, “what’s your screenname/email address/Myspace,” and were annoyed when I didn’t have one. I was reluctant to spend any time on the Internet until I discovered a website called DeviantArt that specialized in sharing artwork and writing. In short time, I became addicted to uploading writing and artwork, looking at the works of other users and communicating with like-minded art lovers.

At that point I realized two things:

1. The Internet is constantly in the process of developing
2. There’s something on the Internet for everyone and it’s only a matter of time before you stumble upon it.

Since then, the Internet has served as tool for social interaction, research (on scholarly databases of course… and some Wikipedia), and Entertainment.

Well, it’s been more than that. The Internet has helped me go to school. A few years ago I was trying to pay for school at Panera, a restaurant. Such a task is difficult with today’s high cost of living. I was burning through my savings very quickly and I started taking more hours at the restaurant. Taking more hours made it difficult to also put enough time into schoolwork and the balancing act was very challenging at times.

Then suddenly it dawned on me. Most of my life I had worked on my writing skills and the Internet was overloaded with text. There had to be some professional writers creating these texts. While I could have searched for a professional writing position at a local newspaper, finding writing work on the Internet seemed so much easier. I discovered that very often, behind much of the content on the web were armies of writers hired by web developers to write content that would attract readership and get their websites highly ranked on Google, thus increasing traffic to their websites. Since then, I have been attending school and paying tuition by writing a lot of content for the Internet. I’ve become pretty plugged in.

In the meantime, I’ve discovered more and more stimulating sources on the web. I’ve found podcasts that I listen to regularly, such a psychology-oriented podcast by Dr. David Van Nuys of Sonoma State University. I not only read articles from websites such as ScienceDaily for stimulating news but I also spend my breaks often reading humorous websites. These diversions were once a problem while also trying to keep up with school and work, but I’ve developed will power that has allowed me to resist distractions when I need to work.

Overall, I have developed a technocrat bias. I see that technology has dramatically increased efficiency and freed up computer users from many time consuming tasks such as filing away information in a filing cabinet and digging it up again at a later date. But a part of me also understands some of the consequences that technology can hold, such as increasing anger in day-to-day communications. For myself, I wonder if there are any consequences to spending so much time on the Internet. Since becoming 100% financially independent, moving into an apartment and paying all bills through the creation of web content, my time on the Internet has become unavoidably long every day. Despite sometimes feeling burned out by technology, I still have strong and growing optimism about the various innovations that help keep life stimulating and that unlock new potential.